A surcharge on every firearm, every round, and every “precursor part” — stacked on top of the federal excise tax and your regular sales tax.
Officially it’s the Colorado firearms and ammunition excise tax — created by HB24-1349, approved by voters as Proposition KK in November 2024, and effective April 1, 2025. It’s 6.5% on firearms, ammunition, and “firearm precursor parts,” legally imposed on the vendor’s net taxable sales — which dealers pass through in the price. It doesn’t stand alone: it stacks on top of the federal 10–11% manufacturer’s excise tax, plus your regular state and local sales tax.
Exemptions are narrow. Only peace officers, law enforcement agencies, and active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces are spared. Everyone else — every peaceable citizen exercising an enumerated right — pays the surcharge.
Know who the law puts on the hook: you, the vendor. You file monthly returns through Revenue Online by the 20th of the following month. And per the state’s own FAQ, an out-of-state vendor shipping into Colorado owes it too — so mail-order doesn’t dodge it. Build it into your pricing and your bookkeeping from day one.
They can’t ban the right outright —
so they price it like a vice instead.
A tax that singles out an enumerated constitutional right for special treatment isn’t just expensive — it may be unconstitutional. In Langston v. Humphreys (Case No. 2025CV31185, Denver District Court, filed March 31, 2025), a coalition is making exactly that argument, invoking the Supreme Court’s Murdock line — the cases that struck down taxes on First Amendment activity. The plaintiffs: the Second Amendment Foundation, the NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition, the Colorado State Shooting Association, Magnum Shooting Center of Colorado Springs, and citizen Zachary Langston.
The coalition is carrying this to court, but the movement is carried by members. The Colorado State Shooting Association is in the fight on the tax, the bans, and what comes next. Stand with them.
A note for the record. This page is Second Amendment advocacy and general information — not legal or tax advice. Rates, filing rules, exemptions, and case status can change; the figures here reflect the law as enacted (effective April 1, 2025) and the litigation as described. Confirm current requirements with the Colorado Department of Revenue and a qualified professional before relying on any of it for a purchase or a business.